Why Give
There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life—happiness, freedom, and peace of mind—are always attained by giving them to someone else.
- Peyton Conway March
Giving changes the giver.
The soul affirms it; science confirms it. When we give freely to a cause greater than ourselves, we elevate not only those who are helped by our gift, but our own spirits as well.
People who give live longer, happier lives. Even the neurons in our brain are affected by giving, registering the charitable action as a “pleasure.”1
Corporations also benefit from giving—for every one dollar a company allocates to its charitable giving budget, future sales grow on average by six dollars.2
The act of charitable giving profoundly and positively impacts both giver and recipient. So why are we sometimes so reluctant to give?
Every day, we are confronted by the needs in our community, our city, our world. Individually, we often lack the resources to respond effectively to these needs. This inability to create meaningful change can weigh heavily on us at times, even lead us to despair.
But when we partner with charities dedicated to the causes that matter to us—and with other like-hearted individuals and corporations—we become part of the solution, agents of change.
We hope you choose to support some of the wonderful causes and organizations represented on this site. Moreover, we hope that the transformative act of giving continues to bring happiness, freedom and peace of mind to you … and to all those impacted by your gift.
1. William T. Harbaugh, Ulrich Mayr, Daniel R. Burghart (University of Oregon), “Neural Responses to Taxation and Voluntary Giving Reveal Motives for Charitable Donations.” Science. (June 15, 2007).
2. Lev, Baruch Itamar, Petrovits, Christine and Radhakrishnan, Suresh (New York University and the University of Texas at Dallas), "Is Doing Good Good for You? Yes, Charitable Contributions Enhance Revenue Growth" (July 2006).
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